Photovoltaic panels or photovoltaic panel systems are largely employed in generation of electricity. Known use of a photovoltaic panel is to charge a battery with the panel, and use the energy from the battery for electrical supply. The energy from the battery is well-regulated; i.e., the voltage available from a battery is known and substantially constant DC voltage.
The charging of the battery can be carried out efficiently using a charging controller having a maximum power point tracker (MPPT). MPPTs are used for driving the charging controller to the operating point in which a maximum amount of power can be extracted from the panel.
If the energy from the panel system is used in driving a motor load, a motor controller is further used. A motor controller can be, for example an inverter that produces alternating voltage from the DC voltage source. The alternating voltage can be employed to drive an alternating current motor, such as an induction motor. One known use of alternating motors is for rotating pumps in pumping applications.
When the solar panel system or photovoltaic panel system is used solely for pump applications, then the above described way of providing alternating voltage to a pump can be quite complicated and involves multiple electrical components. The number of required components can make the structure expensive and also vulnerable.